Retro Justice
by Project Phoenix Agent 002
Summary: "We had a small fire here at Project Cadmus, the cause of which is still being investigated. But it seems to have attracted some unwanted attention. Four sidekicks- Aqualad, Kid Flash, Green Arrow, and Batman." An AU fic in which mentor/mentee roles are all reversed. Just an experiment right now, but may continue.


It was a serene afternoon in Gotham City. Barbecue weather, really. Families were out, doing just that. There was laughter, there were smiles, it was a happy time. Of course, it didn't stay that way. Such is how things go in Gotham, and today, the pristine barbecue weather was interrupted by the sound akin to glass shattering, and the crackling of ice settling as a freeze gun cut through the air.

Mr. Freeze strode through the open park, wielding his massive cold gun- cold bazooka more accurately, really -leveling it on a cowering family.

"Enjoying family time?" he asked, his weapon charging and firing. As the discharged ceased and the icy smoke wafted away, a family encased in ice was left. "My family has other plans."

He hefted the weapon in the direction of another group of targets, beginning the charge once again. This time though, his shot was thrown off as a batarang impacted the side of the barrel. The villain gained a kind of cold satisfaction at the projectile.

"Finally," he said. "I was wondering when-"

Freeze was interrupted as he received a mule kick to his domed head that sent him crashing to the ground. After being rattled around like a fish in a bag, Freeze regained his bearings just in time to watch two more batarangs fly towards his face, cracking the domed helmet of his suit. Freeze traced the objects to their source, and did not see the hero he was expecting.

Standing in front of him was a young boy, clad in form fitting black body armor with a bright red bat embezzled on his chest. Aside from his mouth and jaw, his face was concealed behind a cowl, topped off with short, pointed ears. Batman.

"Oh," Freeze said, somewhat disappointed. "Dark Knight. The Bird sent you to deal with me? Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

The young hero stood defiant in front of the villain, fists clenching and white eye lenses narrowing. "It's over Freeze," he declared, jaw set.

"Kids today," Freeze scoffed, standing up and picking up his gun to aim at the boy. "So...overconfident. You're out of your league, boy."

Batman gave only a noncommittal grunt of "Hn."

Abruptly, Freeze noticed the shadow enveloping him from behind, and turned around just in time to see Nightwing, defender of Gotham, descending down with batons swinging. Freeze didn't even have time to react, and the baton crashed through the dome, shattering it into countless pieces as he dropped to the ground.

Nightwing landed in a way that made the move look effortless, a victorious smirk on his face. "Feeling whelmed yet?" he challenged.

"I had him," Batman protested, which left his mentor with an even bigger grin.

* * *

Captain Cold was also in the middle of his own criminal escapades in Central City. A classic robbery, almost by the book. Or it would be if it weren't currently being interrupted by a pair of red and yellow blurs circling him, better known as the Flash and Kid Flash.

Leonard Snart had done this dance before. It had never worked out particularly well for him, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to go down shooting. It was impossible to tell where exactly either speedster was in the ring they were running around Captain Cold. At their speed, they were everywhere and nowhere.

So, lacking anything to aim at, Cold simply fired his gun into the blurs circling him. It hit neither of them, passing harmless through and coating a car that had the extreme poor judgement to be parked on the same street as the battle.

"Stealing ice?" Kid Flash commented as he ran. While the Flash's costume was largely yellow, with splashes of red, Kid Flash took the reverse approach. His uniform was largely red, with yellow boots and lightning bolt decorations. "Isn't that kind of cliche, even for Captain Cold?"

Cold must have heard, because he fired again, this time at the ground the speedsters were treading. The Flash reacted fast enough, jumping over the newly formed ice and widening his orbit, but Kid wasn't as lucky, sliding across it and briefly losing control.

He stumbled, thrown off course and now barreling straight toward a building. He wasn't quite sure he could course correct in time, which left him with only one option. He poured the speed on, leaning back, and ended sprinting straight up the side of the building. Suddenly given more space to move, Kid Flash slowed down, kicking off the side of the building and performing a flip back down onto the street, stopping just short of yelling "Ta-da!" on landing.

Captain Cold spotted the temporarily stopped Kid Flash and fired, but by the time the beam hit the target spot, the boy was gone, back to running circles around the villain.

"Fun as this is, we are a bit short on time," Flash said, darting in. Cold's weapon from him.

Kid Flash followed in close behind, delivering a superspeed punch that sent Captain Cold to the ground, groaning and ready to give up.

"So much for giving us the slip," Kid Flash joked.

Flash suppressed a grin. It was a terrible, terrible joke. But something about the fact that it was Barry telling it made it almost okay.

"Come on, Kid," the Flash directed. "If we don't leave now, you'll find someone to chat up."

"Do I really do that?" Kid Flash asked innocently.

"Please," Flash said with a roll of his eyes. He took off from the scene, his partner following. "The cops, bystanders… Cold."

"Sorry," the scarlet speedster apologized.

"Don't sweat it, it's part of your charm," Flash assured. "We just don't have time for it today."

"Right," Kid Flash said with a smile. "Today's the day."

* * *

Killer Frost sent a veritable maelstrom towards the two heroes confronting her. Aquaman and Aqualad were both rushing the villain, dodging and strafing but never backing off the attack.

Killer Frost fired a blast of pure cold toward Aquaman. His tattoos glowed bright blue as he activated his waterbearers, forming a shield. Frost's blast froze the shield solid, stopping Aquaman for a moment as he took cover behind it.

"Is it wrong that I'm excited?" the Aqualad asked, performing a front flip over his mentor's shield and advancing. While Aquaman's uniform consisted of a kind of red and black wetsuit and waterpack, Aqualad wore the bright orange scale mail of royalty along with a a set of green pants.

Killer Frost willed the icy winds toward the young hero, sending icicles straight toward him. He remained undaunted punching one, then another, and then taking the third to the chest, letting it shatter against his armor and dense skin.

"I would prefer if you remained focused on the task at hand, my prince," Aquaman instructed, shattering his ice shield by sending a powerful electric charge through it.

"No need," Aqualad stated cockily. He leapt toward Frost, fist pulled back. She jumped back and out of the way, and Aqualad's fist smashed into the deck of the ship they were fighting on, denting it.

Killer Frost fired a cold blast directly into his fist, securing it to the deck in a mound of ice. With a defiant glare, Aqualad heaved his fist back up, cracking the ice and freeing it from the deck before driving his ice covered fist into Killer Frost's surprised face, shattering the ice off and send her to the ground, down for the count.

He shook the remaining bits of ice off his hand as the cold winds died down without Killer Frost's control. "Task complete," he said victoriously.

"You underestimated your opponent, Arthur," Aquaman calmly berated as he holstered his water bearers in his waterpack, "and it nearly cost you the battle. A king cannot allow distractions to cloud his judgement, in battle or otherwise."

Aqualad's confident grin faded, his gaze dipping down to the floor as he took the criticism. There was perhaps no one Arthur looked up to more than Aquaman, champion of Atlantis, and he hated disappointing him.

His spirits were lifted though, as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Arthur looked up, meeting Aquaman's eyes.

"But you succeeded," he continued. "And your excitement is to be expected. Today is the day."

* * *

The Star City suspension bridge was under attack. Privately, Red Arrow wondered why it always had to be the bridge. It was never the Queen Consolidated building, or the park, or the financial district. No, it was always the damn bridge.

At least the universe was nice enough to vary who was attacking it. This time, it was Icicle Jr. on a rampage, obstructing cars, freezing them in place. Cars honked and swerved even as Red Arrow and his protege made their approach.

Everything was going routine until Icicle created an ice ramp that launched a car into the air and sent it tumbling across the bridge's lanes.

Red Arrow grit his teeth at the sight of innocent people thrown around like play things by the maniac. Without breaking stride, Red Arrow notched an arrow and fired, with Green Arrow next to him following suit.

Both their arrows found their marks in one of Juniors arms before the warheads in them detonated, shattering the ice contruct he'd been forming.

He looked up to them, smiling. "Finally! Was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here."

Red Arrow got even angrier when he heard that, drawing back his bow even further for a bit more punch. "Junior's doing all of this for attention."

"Well, he's got ours," Oliver noted, firing off another arrow. Junior formed an ice wall, shielding himself from further shots, before he sent four massive icicles flying towards the two archers.

"Yike!" Oliver yelped, leaping out of the way and onto one of the suspension cables. The youth slid down them toward the bridge's surface, firing arrow after arrow as he went. Red Arrow cursed his protege's impulsiveness, firing a zip line arrow to catch up with him.

Green Arrow, ducked under yet another icicle fired by Junior, and then leapt over another, notching an arrow as he did. This time, he chose a blunt arrow, designed to deliver high impact. He let it fly, and Icicle formed an ice wall in defense.

The arrow sailed straight and true, perfectly aimed and perfectly timed. Even as the ice formed, climbing up to protect its creator, the arrow cleared it by inches, passing just in time and striking Junior in the jaw hard enough to send him to the floor.

"Kid has a glass jaw," Green Arrow joked as he landed, victorious.

Red Arrow landed soon after, a bit unamused. "Hilarious. Now let's go."

Green Arrow smiled, excited. "Alright! Today's the day!"

* * *

Aquaman and Aqualad. Flash and Kid Flash. Red and Green Arrow. Nightwing and Batman. The four hero duos stood side by side in front of the Hall of Justice, headquarters of the Justice League, while a throng of reporters stood on either side of the walkway approaching the building, snapping pictures of the occasion and throwing out a nigh-unintelligible flurry of questions.

Nightwing placed a congratulatory hand on Batman's shoulder, a smile of pride on his face. "Today's the day," he told him.


End file.
